Original name
Doxiadis Associates and Athens Center of Ekistics
Other denominations
Doxiadis Associates Office Building
Original use
Administrative purposes/office spaces
Current use
Housing/housing ensemble
Architects
Doxiadis Associates: Constantinos Doxiadis, Titos Kouravelos and Arthur Scheepers
Others
Divercity Architects, renovation and change of use
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
In its design, the element should account for aspects such as modulation, finishes, transportation, anchoring, installation on site, junctions between panels, the creation of openings and the relationship between the panels and joinery. The element may also be given characteristics that can improve the thermal insulation of the façade, for example. In that sense, they are often part of an industrialized system that offers a variety of responses to different construction situations and maximum versatility in terms of architectural solutions.
The aesthetic possibilities of concrete in prefabricated façade panel systems are endless in terms of size, shape, color, texture, hardness and a wide range of features.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
Beams are the horizontal load-bearing elements of the frame. Columns are the vertical elements of the frame and act as the building’s primary load-bearing element. They transmit the beam loads down to the foundations.
State of Conservation
Description
This building was designed in 1955 for educational uses and offices. It was converted into apartments in 2014, after sitting abandoned for 20 years. Originally, it was the location for several schools of technology and urban planning, as well as the offices of the architect and urban planner Constantinos Dioxadis – author of the design for the building and a renowned figure in Greek architecture and urbanism. As many as 400 people once worked simultaneously under its roof.
Dioxadis developed an urban theory called Ekistics. Based on a theoretical study of the evolution of human communities, it aimed to provide contemporary cities with public spaces that could promote a sense of community and alternative lifestyles. In his own words, the idea was to pursue a city model that “satisfies the dreamer and is acceptable to the scientist, a place where the projections of the artist and the builder merge”. At the same time, Dioxadis was a staunch supporter of the use of reinforced concrete, which was intended to infuse the city with a new modern aesthetic, while preserving urban forms rooted in the Mediterranean tradition.
The design is materialized through a simple but elegant structure of concrete porticos, which is expressed on the façade and modulates the form of the complex overall, resulting in a series of rectangular volumes. Within that framework, the façades are made up of lightweight construction elements and large glazed surfaces.
The true innovation, nevertheless, came in the urban layout of the complex: a staggered series of four buildings that respected all the principles of modern urbanism, built around an atrium inspired by the classical agora. All in all, One Athens embodied the ideal of what a new modern city should be.
Greece
Stratiotikou Syndesmou Street 24
Central Greece (Region) , Central Athens (Regional unit), Attica (Administrative Region) 106 73 Athens
Commission
1955
Completion
1961